Tom Barrack: Kurds Fought by Our Side All Through the ISIS Campaign

AP

Tom Barrack, the U.S. President's Special Envoy to Iraq and Syria.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. President's Special Envoy to Iraq and Syria, said the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian government had made progress on the military front, while political and educational issues related to the Kurdish question remained unresolved.

Barrack said Washington was continuing to work towards resolving the outstanding issues.

His comments came during an interview with the Lebanese-Australian commentator Mario Nawfal, in which he discussed the future of the SDF and the Kurdish situation in Syria, as well as the threat posed by ISIS, Syrian-Israeli relations and Syria’s political and economic outlook.

Barrack described the Kurds as friends of America, allies for America, who fought by our side all through the ISIS campaign, noting that SDF Commander General Mazloum Abdi helped them through that very difficult period and that the SDF is now being integrated into the Syrian government. 

Speaking about the ISIS war in Syria, Barrack said: "If you remember, we were going through a very difficult integration period where SDF, the Kurds, friends of America, allies for America, fought by our side all through the ISIS campaign. General Mazloum, who's a sensational general who helped us through a very difficult period, was now being integrated or was required to become integrated into the Syrian government. This was a kind of shock to the Kurdish system."

Barrack also stated that there are 9,400 ISIS prisoners spread throughout prisons in Syria with no actual indictment, no actual files, no process of judicial resolution.

He also stated that they have coordination between Türkiye, Israel, and Syria hunting ISIS terrorists, because as this vacuum of power continues, warning that ISIS is pushing hard to re-establish itself.

Regarding SDF integration into the Syrian state, Barrack said: "We helped them (Syrian government) negotiate a solution with the Kurds, and as you saw yesterday, General Mazloum announced the dissolution of SDF and the full integration on a military basis of that Kurdish northeast. We're still working on the political aspect, the educational aspect, but everybody's playing well in the sandbox. It will come, and it will happen."



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